Connecticut’s elected and police officials are condemning Sunday’s mass shooting at a small church in rural South Texas, saying tragedies similar to the Newtown shootings need to stop.

A 26-year-old military veteran from Texas, identified as Devin Kelley, opened fire inside the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, killing 26 people and wounding about 20 others before being killed or killing himself following a chase, authorities said.

The shooting deaths of 26 worshipers is “sickening,” Hartford Deputy Chief Brian Foley said Monday, adding that there are too many guns circulating in the capital city and beyond.

Foley suggested that a decade-long moratorium on gun production might give authorities a chance reassess how guns should be regulated.

Hartford’s had its share of gun deaths, Foley said. As officers respond to each homicide, they see the reaction of grieving friends and family standing on the other side of the crime scene tape.

“We look … at the families that are hurting, we start to realize, there is no shortage of guns out there. Something’s got to be done. I don’t know what the answer is. Maybe stop making them for 10 years and go revisit it down the road. I don’t know.”

With gun buybacks and undercover operations targeting armed criminals, the police seize plenty of illegal guns. But it’s not enough, he said.

“The women and men of our police department do an amazing job of getting the guns off our streets safely. But the guns just keep on coming,” Foley said. “It doesn’t matter how many guns we take off the streets, the guns just keep coming back.”

The city plans to reach out to its religious communities in the wake of the massacre, Foley said.

Hartford, unlike many police departments, have a faith-based officer who is assigned to work with churches and other religious organizations.

“You can bet he’s going to reach out to every church or faith-based community today to put them at ease and make sure they know the police department’s here for them and if the police department needs to provide extra attention, we will.”

Elected officials also expressed dismay about the mass shooting, believed to be the biggest in Texas history.

“My heart sunk to the pit of my stomach, once again, when I heard of today's shooting in Texas,’’ U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said Sunday. “My heart dropped further when I thought about the growing macabre club of families in Las Vegas and Orlando and Charleston and Newtown, who have to relive their own day of horror every time another mass killing occurs.’’

While Congress has repeatedly declined to pass major gun control legislation after other mass shootings in Newtown, Orlando, Las Vegas, and other locations, Murphy says that action now needs to be taken.

“None of this is inevitable,’’ Murphy said. “I know this because no other country endures this pace of mass carnage like America. It is uniquely and tragically American. As long as our nation chooses to flood the county with dangerous weapons and consciously let those weapons fall into the hands of dangerous people, these killings will not abate.’’

The Associated Press reported the attack is the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history and the deadliest shooting at a church in American history. Early reports were that the victims ranged in age from 5 to 72 years old, and that the pastor’s 14-year-old daughter was among those who perished.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat who pushed for gun control that was passed on a bipartisan basis by the state legislature after the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings in December 2012, also mentioned other school shootings at Columbine High School and Virginia Tech.

“This morning a church community in Texas gathered to pray in peace and now we pray for the deceased, the injured, and their friends and families,’’ Malloy said Sunday. “Sutherland Springs now joins a club which no one wishes to join, a club made up of cities and towns ravaged by senseless gun violence — communities such as Littleton, Virginia Tech, Charleston, Orlando, Las Vegas, Newtown, and so many others.’’

Malloy added, “For the sake of all communities across the country, this madness of mass shootings needs to end once and for all. Congress needs to finally take up and pass commonsense gun control measures so that tragedies like this one never happen again. Connecticut will make any resources and expertise that we can provide available to those affected by this latest act of mass violence.”

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal condemned the shootings on Twitter and will hold a press conference at the state Capitol at 11 a.m. Monday.

“I share the horror, heartbreak and shame felt tonight as the nation endures yet another massacre of innocent lives,’’ Blumenthal said. “Prayers are important, but insufficient. Congress is complicit in this unspeakable tragedy through its inexcusable inaction. Enough is enough — now is the time for commonsense gun violence prevention measures.”

But Scott Wilson, president of the pro-gun Connecticut Citizens Defense League, said that gun control is not the answer.

“At this point, I would ask the question of our two senators: would you go door-to-door to confiscate every firearm from every lawful gun owner in the country?’’ Wilson asked. “Our hopes at this point would be there would be somebody there who is lawfully armed to put an end to the shooting.’’

Citing news reports, Wilson credited “a law-abiding citizen that was legally armed’’ who engaged Kelley outside the Texas church. Some news reports said that Kelley was dishonorably discharged from the military, which Wilson said would prevent him from legally owning a gun.

Wilson said that the recent murders in lower Manhattan, in which a man crashed into innocent people on a bicycle path with a rental truck, was stopped only when a police officer with a gun shot and wounded the suspect. Wilson said that many mass murders have been committed without a gun, including the Oklahoma City and Boston Marathon bombings and other incidents in Europe.

Murphy, a Democrat who has spoken on the Senate floor in the past about gun violence, said he will continue that effort until federal gun laws are changed.

“As my colleagues go to sleep tonight, they need to think about whether the political support of the gun industry is worth the blood that flows endlessly onto the floors of American churches, elementary schools, movie theaters, and city streets,’’ Murphy said. “Ask yourself — how can you claim that you respect human life while choosing fealty to weapons-makers over support for measures favored by the vast majority of your constituents?’’

He added, “My heart breaks for Sutherland Springs. Just like it still does for Las Vegas. And Orlando. And Charleston. And Aurora. And Blacksburg. And Newtown. Just like it does every night for Chicago. And New Orleans. And Baltimore. And Bridgeport. The terrifying fact is that no one is safe so long as Congress chooses to do absolutely nothing in the face of this epidemic. The time is now for Congress to shed its cowardly cover and do something."

An Associated Press report is included in this story.

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Ariella Botts, 5, of East Hartford, was born with a severe muscular disorder called nemaline myopathy that requires round the clock care from a visiting nurse. Her mother, Rachel, talks about how the service is threatened by a state cutback that would lower the reimbursement from Medicaid. Without the visiting nurses, like Livia Brown, seen caring for Ariella, she would be in a medical foster home or a hospital or long-term care facility, probably at higher cost.

Ariella Botts, 5, of East Hartford, was born with a severe muscular disorder called nemaline myopathy that requires round the clock care from a visiting nurse. Her mother, Rachel, talks about how the service is threatened by a state cutback that would lower the reimbursement from Medicaid. Without the visiting nurses, like Livia Brown, seen caring for Ariella, she would be in a medical foster home or a hospital or long-term care facility, probably at higher cost.

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Ariella Botts, 5, of East Hartford, was born with a severe muscular disorder called nemaline myopathy that requires round the clock care from a visiting nurse. Her mother, Rachel, talks about how the service is threatened by a state cutback that would lower the reimbursement from Medicaid. Without the visiting nurses, like Livia Brown, seen caring for Ariella, she would be in a medical foster home or a hospital or long-term care facility, probably at higher cost.

Ariella Botts, 5, of East Hartford, was born with a severe muscular disorder called nemaline myopathy that requires round the clock care from a visiting nurse. Her mother, Rachel, talks about how the service is threatened by a state cutback that would lower the reimbursement from Medicaid. Without the visiting nurses, like Livia Brown, seen caring for Ariella, she would be in a medical foster home or a hospital or long-term care facility, probably at higher cost.

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Betsy Gara, Executive Director of COST, talks about her meeting with Dannel Malloy to discuss budget burdens for municipalities.

Betsy Gara, Executive Director of COST, talks about her meeting with Dannel Malloy to discuss budget burdens for municipalities.

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Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen has filed or joined a growing number of lawsuits against the Trump Adminsitration

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President Donald Trump is lashing out at Sen. Richard Blumenthal, calling him a “phony Vietnam con artist” shortly after the Democratic lawmaker said the investigation into Russian meddling in the election and possible collusion by the Trump campaign must be pursued. (August 7, 2017) (Sign up for our free video newsletter here http://bit.ly/2n6VKPR)

President Donald Trump is lashing out at Sen. Richard Blumenthal, calling him a “phony Vietnam con artist” shortly after the Democratic lawmaker said the investigation into Russian meddling in the election and possible collusion by the Trump campaign must be pursued. (August 7, 2017) (Sign up for our free video newsletter here http://bit.ly/2n6VKPR)